Black Collegian Celebrates 35 Years of Publishing

It's sort of astonishing to think that the company now called IMDiversity (formerly Black Collegiate services, by way of many other name changes) has been publishing THE BLACK COLLEGIAN Magazine for over 35 years. It's astonishing not only because it started with zero money from a "shotgun shack" in New Orleans and so very few magazine start-ups manage to survive, but also because we launched it at a time when there were very, very, very few substantive national publications bothering to address African Americans.

We were reminded of this while preparing our special 35th anniversary super issue, which hit campuses in April just before graduation. It was amazing for us staffers, poring through the archives of old editions, right back to Issue 1 Volume 1 with Isaac Hayes on the cover.

It was like riding a time machine, observing how our country's notions of "Blackness" and identity and race itself have changed over the decades. These changes were reflected in our archives superficially, through cover fashions and lingo ("Right on!") and the different types of "futuristic" technology careers we covered. But less superficially, it was reflected in the ideas expressed by so many of the best Black writers and thinkers and leaders we found in the pages, many of whom have contributed since the beginning.

All of it reminded us how cultural innovation and professional success and fulfillment are constantly moving targets. And further, how the challenges and passions and needs of African American students today are in many ways not all that different from those of students 35 years ago. This is a theme we are interested in exploring further in upcoming editions, and will look to air on our site again in the future.